Kingborough
Lions United fought tooth and nail against the Warriors and emerged with a
goalless draw to give themselves a point and a hold on fourth place.

Olympia
looked the sharper side in the opening half but some glaring misses cost them
the lead. Warren Wadawu, Gavin Hoy, Emmanuel
Tsakiris and Alex Holmes were all off target as the visitors pressured the home
side, who were well served at the back by Adam Hedge, whose timely tackles
denied the Warriors at least two scoring chances.

The
Lions were not without some bite, however, and Lewis Verdouw should have been
more composed when he got onto the end of a perfect left-wing cross from Billy
Gasparinatos, only to scuff the ball wide.Skipper Nick Cuthbertson will also be disappointed with himself for
heading another chance wide.

The
second half began just like the first, with Luke Eyles and Hoy failing to score
for Olympia from very good chances before Jack Turner cut through for the
Lions, only to see his service wasted by Verdouw and Danny Cowen.

Holmes
and Eyles then threatened the Lions defence, but unsuccessfully, while in the
69th minute, Olympia suffered a setback when Harry Woolley was shown
a second yellow card after he deliberately blocked a potentially dangerous run
by Dean Watkins by fouling the Kingborough player.The youngster was shown the red by Mr Hortle
and made the long, lonely walk to the visitors’ dressing rooms.

Olympia
were not done, however, and continued to create chances, with Hoy and Fabian
Gustafsson squandering good opportunities.

Olympia
survived a torrid few minutes at the end as a Cuthbertson header was cleared
off the line by Eyles, Gasparinatos blazed wide, and Verdouw fired over the bar.

The
match ended with Olympia scrambling back and forth inside their opponents’
penalty area but being unable to get in a shot.

South
Hobart coach, Ken Morton, who was watching the game, must have been the most
relieved spectator at the ground.His
side went down 1-0 away to Launceston City the previous day and a draw at
Lightwood Park was the best result he could have hoped for, apart, possibly,
from a Lions win.

Lions
coach Colin Robbins was pleased with the point and still rates his side as
being in with a chance for the title.

“We
had chances to win that game as well,” said Robbins.“[But] very pleased [with the point].

“They’re
a very good attacking team, but our guys were there at the right time,
disrupting, pressuring.It’s something
new we’ve found in the team, which is great.”

Olympia
coach Glen McNeill was disappointed with his side’s poor finishing, which he
believed cost them a win.

Sunday, September 28, 2014

North
Hobart, the venue for today’s double-header featuring Tasmania against
Melbourne Victory Youth at 12.15pm, followed by the A-League pre-season clash
between heavyweights Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC at 3pm, is no stranger to
soccer.

Back
in 1923, it was the scene of China’s 2-1 win over Tasmania.

Two
years later, Tasmania lost to South Australia there 4-3.

South
Hobart Oval then became the preferred venue for quite a few years.

It
was back to North Hobart in 1951, when England beat Tasmania 11-0 before a
crowd of 5,742.

England
also played at York Park in Launceston on that tour, where they won 17-0.

Hong
Kong were the next visiting side to play at North Hobart and they beat Tasmania
6-4.

Hong
Kong played there again in 1955, winning 11-2 against Tasmania.

In 1957, the Hungarian side, Ferencvaros, played an Australian XI, containing five Tasmanians, at North Hobart.

It was 2-2 at half-time, but Ferencvaros scraped home 3-2. There were just over 3,000 in attendance.

The referee was Norm Evans, who was killed when hit by a cricket ball in a game at South Hobart Oval some years later.Scottish
club Heart of Midlothian, generally known as Hearts, beat Tasmania 10-0 at
North Hobart in 1959.

Chelsea
toured Australia in 1965 and they thrashed Tasmania 12-0 at North Hobart that
year.

An
English FA XI were the next visitors to play at North Hobart and they beat
Tasmania 8-0, with the pitch marked out from the Ryde Street end towards Ridges
Hotel, which in those days, was the Blind and Deaf Institute.Generally, the pitch ran from the Argyle
Street end to the Letitia Street end, as it will be today.

Apart
from North Hobart, visiting sides have also played at South Hobart Oval,
Queenborough, the TCA Ground, Grove Road (now KGV Park), the Showgrounds, York
Park and the Elphin Showgrounds.

The
last big game at North Hobart was in 1993, when Gary Lineker’s Nagoya Grampus
Eight beat Tasmania 3-0.

In
more recent times, the Tasmanian under-21s have played A-League youth sides at
North Hobart.

Milos
Lujic, who played for South Melbourne Hellas against South Hobart last weekend,
was in that Melbourne Victory Youth side.Hugh Ludford was in the Tasmanian side and last weekend was the second
time they had confronted each other.

Also
in 2008 at North Hobart, Tasmania’s Under-21s beat Brisbane Roar Youth 1-0
through a goal by Danny White before a crowd of 900.

Today’s
double-header offers a top-notch programme and anything less than 10,000 would
be disappointing at this notable venue.

Friday, September 26, 2014

Photo: Darren Davies, the Melbourne Victory Youth coach, works with up to 20 young players, some of whom are under contract and others who are not [PlessPix]

Melbourne
Victory Youth will come to Hobart on Sunday to face Tasmania on the heels of
two wins against FC Bulleen Lions during the past week.

Melbourne
Victory won both those games, so look out Tasmania!

Winning
is not the purpose of the visit to Hobart, however, and player development is
the first priority.

The
squad has only been together for a week, but Davies liked what he saw in the
two games against Bulleen.

"It's a particularly young
group, however, our philosophy as a club is to get the youngsters in and to
hopefully become the next batch who progress from this youth team into the
seniors,” said Melbourne Victory Youth coach, Darren Davies. “That’s always our goal.

"Every single player we have at
Melbourne Victory we have because we believe they can be a first-team player.

“We are really committed to working
with those boys.

"When we train, we all train
together. We are looking to implement
the same structures as the first team. This
is done ultimately because our job is to get our next batch into the first
team.

"Anybody who knows me and knows
this football club knows our goal is purely to get players into the first team.
That is what we are about and is our
ultimate goal, and our only goal.

“Winning games is part of their
learning, but it is not at the expense of their development.

"Our goal is to get boys into
the first team. Over the course of the
last three years we are up to nine boys now who have been involved in the first
team.

“Our goal is to better that and if we
can get more boys into the first team then it’s been a successful season.

"It [the games against Bulleen]
was a really great exercise and I want to put on record our thanks to Bulleen
as well.

“We came out here, it’s a nice
surface to play on, and they have supported us very well."

Sunday’s game against Tasmania
represents their next phase in preparing for the Hyundai Youth League.

Medwin, a product of
Football Federation Tasmania’s successful National Training Centre Women’s
Football Program, was one of just 23 players named yesterday by Australia’s head
coach, Ante Juric.

The squad has been
selected following three selection camps throughout September at the AIS in
Canberra.

The tournament will be
held in Melaka, Malaysia, from 4-8 October, with the team departing Sydney on
Monday, 29 September.

"This is a magnificent
achievement and is very significant for women’s football in Tasmania,” said FFT
technical director, Spencer Prior.

Photo: Aimee Medwin has earned Australian representation [PlessPix]

Medwin is a very talented left-sided
player for the NTC but has shown her value as a utility, capable of performing
on both sides of the park and in either attacking or defending positions, an
attribute that has caught the eye of national selectors after strong performances
at the selection camps.

“For Aimee, this is just the
beginning of, hopefully, a long journey in international football,” said Prior.

“She deserves this as she is not
only a talented footballer but a great kid.

"Michael Edwards’s contribution
towards her development shouldn’t go unnoticed as he has played a significant
role in guiding her on this journey.

"With the development of women’s football high on
FFT’s strategic plan, the appointment of Rani Cavarretta and the restructuring
of the technical department around women’s football, it shows that there are
opportunities for female footballers to be identified on the national stage if
they apply themselves to their game the same way Aimee has.”

Who is Walter Pless?

Soccer writer for "The Mercury" in Hobart for 25 years. Has also written for "Soccer Action" (Melbourne), "Australian Soccer Weekly" (Sydney) and "World Soccer" (London). Currently also contributing to "Goal!Weekly" and "Soccer International".
Played for Croatia, Caledonians, Metro, Rapid and University.
Coached University, Metro and Croatia-Glenorchy.